Into the Shadows
by Darth Joosh
Summary: On a secret mission, Team 8 stumbles upon a secret village known as the Village Hidden in Shadow which sets off a chain reaction that will lead to secrets revealed and will force the Nara clan to face their family's history. Rated T for violence/language.
1. Lost and Found

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters from it

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters from it. I am not making profit from this, just the satisfaction of unleashing my imagination on an unsuspecting public.

I should warn now that this fiction will be Shikamaru/Nara Family/Team 10 centric. If you dislike that, or are against it in any way, I suggest turning around right here and reading another story. To everyone else, read at your own risk and enjoy.

Lost and Found

"What a drag." said Shikamaru Nara as he walked through the halls of Hokage Mansion "My first Saturday off in a month, and I get called in for a secret mission? Sometimes I envy normal people."

The lazy chuunin pulled his hands from the pockets of his dark brown pants as he approached the office of the Hokage. Letting out a deep sigh, he pushed open the door. Already sitting in the small office were Shikamaru's 3 other teammates: Asuma Sarutobi, a 28-year-old jounin with spiked black hair and a short black beard; Ino Yamanaka, a thin 13-year-old genin with long blond hair white wraps covering a good bit of her body; and Choji Akimichi, a wide 13-year-old genin with light brown hair.

Sitting behind the large desk was the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade. This blond, middle-aged medic genius was once part of a group known as the "Legendary Sanin", along with the "Toad Sage" Jiraiya and the "Snake Ninja" Orochimaru.

Clearing her throat, the Hokage motioned for Shikamaru to enter and close the door, to which the young Nara obliged.

"Alright, now that the last of your team is assembled," spoke up Tsunade, fixing Shikamaru with a stare, "I will explain to you your mission. About one day ago, we received a message from Hidden Rain village that a certain scroll was stolen from the Head's headquarters by an unusual group of bandits. In the fray that resulted when rain ninja attempted to protect the scroll, one of the bandits used what they are referring to as a "Loopy bomb", leaving 3 nin unaware as to what happened or even who they are. However, there is some good news. Before the group disappeared from the village, one nin was able to get a quick look at their plans. Apparently, the bandits are planning to cut across Fire Country to get to the Hidden Mist village. This is where you come in." At this point, the Hokage gestured to the group. "You are to intercept the bandits, capture them, and retrieve the Rain scroll. If all is not possible, the most important issue is obtaining the secret document. After that is done, proceed to the Hidden Rain village and deliver the scroll. Now, the information I am about to give you is crucial to put in the back of your minds. They will of course discourage me from saying this but I will do so anyway. If you are unable to get the scroll from them, it is most important that it not get to Mist. If the situation is dire, they're about to escape you for example, I command you to destroy the scroll."

Hearing this, all assembled grew shocked looks on their faces. Seeing their expressions, Tsunade quickly backpedaled.

"That is, of course only if the situation extremely demands it. Otherwise, I will go with the elders and say you should avoid harming the piece of information. Is everything understood?" She finished, giving each member of the group a serious look.

Everyone nodded to the affirmative, to which the blond medic stood from her position behind the desk.

"Good, then I expect you to leave the gates within the hour. Good luck." Tsunade dismissed them from her office.

30 minutes later, Team Asuma was grouped at the large gates of Konohagakure.

"Ready?" said Asuma, looking to the rest of his team.

"Ready or not, we don't really have a choice in the matter." spoke up Choji, tightening the strap on his pack.

To that, the bearded jounin grinned.

"Too true. Alright then, if there is no objections, let's go!" With that, the group shot off into the forest surrounding the village.

15 Hours Later

Team Asuma was making their way through the treetops, hopping from branch to branch. Strapped to the jounin's back was a large scroll with the kanji of Ame(rain) imprinted on the side. More strange was the position of Ino. The blond genin was currently riding on Choji's back, giggling hysterically at nothing in particular. Traveling beside the chubby ninja, Shikamaru gave the thin nin on Choji's back a glance and shook his head.

"Poor girl just had to get in the way of that "Loopy bomb"." He said, to which the blond suddenly hiccupped and started gurgling on her saliva. The gurgling slowly led to releasing the spit in large quantities onto Choji's arm. This made the large genin shudder.

"Alright, I'm calling it! Next village we get to, I'm setting her down and washing my arm. That's disgusting!"

Suddenly, the trees seemed to thin out and the group was treated to the sight of a small group of huts in the middle of a clearing.

"Well, that's convenient." commented the lazy chuunin.

Before the group entered the village, both Asuma and Choji resituated their packages, the jounin putting the scroll beneath his arm and the genin carrying the drooling blond bridal-style. As they passed thought the streets, there didn't seem to be a soul out today.

When they got to the village center, Asuma finally noticed an aged, graying man sitting on the steps to a slightly larger hut, scribbling noted on a small pad. As the group approached him, he looked up at them.

Dressed in a large black robe over a white shirt, the man had on glasses and his long, gray hair was tied back in a low ponytail. Pushing his glasses higher on his nose, he peered at the group approaching him, finally noticing the slobbering Ino.

"Loopy bomb?" he asked, pointing his pencil toward the blond. The males just nodded. Sighing, the man closed his notebook and set it to his side. "Well, come in, I might have a cure for that."

Hearing that, the Leaf nin gave each other questioning looks.

"Or you could just let it take its course. She may be fine in about nine hours. It's your choice." the man called from within the house.

Letting out a sigh, the group filed into the hut. Walking in, they saw the man in front of a large rack, checking small jars in the light. Finding what he wanted, he put two jars on a small table beside a large bedroll.

"Please lay her down there." he requested, pointing to the bundle of blankets as he pulled a blue flower from one of the jars and began to chop it up.

As Choji went to set Ino down, she threw her arms around his middle.

"My teddy bear!" she said in a very child-like voice, to which the round genin raised an eyebrow.

"Release the polar bear, child." The man spoke in a normal tone as he poured some pink powder from the other jar into a bowl with the chopped flower.

Letting go of Choji, the thin ninja tilted her head to look at the man and pointed to the bowl he was mixing in.

"What in bowl?"

"Cheese and radishes." the man said in a tone that suggested it was an everyday phrase, to which Ino let out a small giggle and replied in a sweet voice "May I have some, Mr. Chicken?"

"Only if it flies past Jupiter." he said back, kneeling down to place the bowl in front of her face.

As Ino opened her mouth wide, the man slowly tipped the contents in. After the bowl was emptied, the blond swished the mix around a bit before her eyes slowly fluttered closed.

"Never trust a deer with pop rocks." the blond muttered before falling backward onto the blankets.

Meanwhile the males of the team were still gawking at the crazy exchange they just witnessed. While they were catching up, the man stood and walked over to a sink to wash out the bowl. Finally gaining a coherent thought, Shikamaru spoke up.

"So many questions, but I think the first has to be "Who are you?"

At that, the man grinned and turned to face Team Asuma. "Well, most people around here call me Fukurou. Now, you," he said, looking at Shikamaru "you look familiar. What clan are you from?"

"I might just have one of those faces. Why should I give out information like that?" Shikamaru replied.

"You don't trust me? The man who just gave your friend a slightly rare cure?"

"Hey, she fainted, so you might have poisoned her for all we know." Choji spoke up, raising a fist.

"Oh, that. Have no fear, large child. Your girlfriend will wake up in about 20 minutes. She'll have a headache, but she'll be coherent." Fukurou replied with a wave of his hand.

The chubby genin's eyes widened.

"She's not my girlfriend!" he yelled.

"Anyway," the aged man continued, ignoring Choji's outburst "the reason I wanted your name was not to start a fight, but to know if you are part of the Nara clan."

To that, Shikamaru let out a sigh. "Sorry about the mistrust there. We learn not to have confidence in people we just met."

"Think nothing of it, my boy. I understand the precautions of a ninja." Fukurou responded, cleaning his glasses with a handkerchief "It's been a long time since I've seen a Nara, probably a couple of generations. I am lucky enough, however, to still have my memory."

During this time, Asuma had gotten out a small folded piece of paper and was rubbing his chin.

"Umm, Fukurou was it?" the bearded jounin addressed the aged man "I might be wrong, but I can't find this place on my map."

To that, he breathed out and nodded slowly. "Yes, most people don't bother to add Kagegakure to their maps, which we are quite content with. It gives us some peace and quiet."

"Kagegakure?" asked Shikamaru.

"Hmm? Oh yeah. The great Kagegakure, better known as the Village Hidden in Shadow, home of the best kept secrets in the world."

"This place actually keeps secrets?" replied Asuma, putting away his map.

"Duh!" chuckled Fukurou "What, you think Konohagakure has no secrets? Look around once in a while, fellas. Every hidden village has at least one big secret. They are called Hidden Villages for a reason."

"Why would a village want to be kept a secret, though?" questioned Choji, who was now sitting beside Ino's makeshift bedding.

"Well," Fukurou groaned, taking a seat on the other side of the sleeping blond "it's actually quite simple when you think about it. All the other villages seem to want to fight each other every chance they get. As long as we stay out of listings, we stay out of the fray. I believe the last fight we were dragged into was the second great ninja war. Incidentally, it was around that time that this village started to help make those "Loopy bombs" that brought you to this place. So, I'm going to make some tea while we wait for your friend to recover. Anyone want a cup?"

"Sure."

"Why not."

"I'd love some!"

**20 minutes later**

While laughing and trading stories, Choji suddenly heard a groan beside him. Looking down, he saw the laid out blond slowly rubbing her head. As she cracked her eyes open, the wide genin swept a strand of hair out of her eyes and smiled at her.

"You up, Sleeping Beauty?"

"Oh, only if you have aspirin." she muttered.

Fukurou quickly passed Choji a small white bottle. Downing the offered tablets, Ino took a big swig from his cup of tea. Sticking her tongue out, the thin blond picked a small piece of blue flower off the muscle and grimaced.

"So, how do you feel?" inquired Shikamaru.

"Kind of like I just got flattened by Lady Tsunade's giant slug." She replied as she struggled into a sitting position.

"Yeah, that'll happen." the old man commented. Standing, he stretched then dusted himself off. "Well, now that you're awake, I must go. I have an important matter to attend to. Go easy for a while, ok?" He gave Ino a serious look.

"All right, and thank you for helping." she replied.

"It was nothing at all. Good luck in your travels." That being said, Fukurou gave them a small wave then disappeared through the door.

Letting out one last groan, the blond genin got to her feet and looked down at the other three.

"Well? Do we have a mission to complete, or are you girly-nin going to sit there all day drinking tea?"

Grinning, Asuma joined her in standing and put the Rain scroll on his back again. "You heard the woman, we have not a moment to lose."

With that, all four ninjas quickly left the hut and began to make their way through the forest toward the Hidden Rain village once again.

Down, in the depths below Kagegakure, a certain gray haired man was making his way through a large, dark tunnel. Turning a corner, Fukurou suddenly stopped. Standing in front of him was a towering figure and a smaller figure, both in black robes and hidden by the shadows. The larger of the two turned to face the aged man.

"Fukurou, you know you are not supposed to be down here." the figure said in a very deep voice.

"Not now, Yama." the old man spoke hurriedly "I must speak with him."

At that, the smaller figure turned to him, and spoke in a feminine voice.

"You know no one speaks to him during his meditation time."

"It is most important, very crucial business." replied Fukurou "Please, Onna."

Suddenly a voice arose from behind Yama and Onna. This one, unlike the other two figures, had a very neutral tone.

"And what is so important that you should be allowed to interrupt my much needed meditation?"

The aged man quickly dropped to one knee before the shadow covered figure. "Please, Lord Tsuki, if you allow me to explain, I shall not disappoint you." As the hidden man made no move to speak, Fukurou took that as his cue to inform. "Well, just 30 minutes ago, I made contact with a team of ninja from Konoha."

"And why should this interest me?" commented Tsuki.

"Because, my lord, one of the ninja was a child of the Nara clan."

After a moment, the shadow-covered man spoke again. "That is interesting. Onna, Fukurou, gather the others. Yama, find a messenger. We are going to Konohagakure."

AN: Alright, there you have it. It has begun.

By the way, at this juncture I would like to make a request of you, the reader. By this point alone, you can probably tell that there will probably be a showdown later on between the ninja of the Hidden Shadow village and the ninja of the Hidden Leaf village, so I would like to urge you to stretch your imagination. If you write a review, please take a few seconds and tell me about your own original shadow-based jutsu for the Kagegakure ninja to use. It can be Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or even a Kekkai Genkai. I have quite a few in mind, but I would love to hear from your minds. Thanks for reading the first chapter, and please review.


	2. Back to the Leaf

Back to the Leaf

The sun was slowly making its way below the mountains of Fire Country as Team 10 was walking through the very large gates of Konohagakure. Just taking a few steps into the great Hidden Leaf village, the team suddenly heard a voice to the side.

"About time you got back."

Looking over the group saw Kotetsu Hagane, a chuunin with hair spiked in all directions and a bandage across his nose, and Izumo Kamizuki, a chuunin with a bandana covering his head and his brown hair coming down to cover his right eye. The two assistants to the Godaime Hokage quickly stood from their seats beside the watchmen of the gate, and strolled over to Team 10.

"Lady Hokage requests your presence in her office right away." said Kotetsu "Apparently it's important."

Giving off a small sigh, Asuma rubbed the back of his neck.

"Alright, we'll be there in a minute." he replied.

Hearing that, both Izumo and Kotetsu disappeared into twin puffs of smoke. As the smoke cleared, the jounin turned to face his students.

"Alright, you heard the man. Let's not make our Hokage wait too long." Asuma said.

"Right." His three students replied then they all began quickly walking toward the large building with the symbol for fire on it.

As the team began to make their way up the stairs attached to the side of Hokage Mansion, they ran into a certain pink haired medic.

"Oh, hey guys." Said Sakura Haruno, a genin with short pink hair and a medium length white coat on. "Just get back?"

"Yeah." Asuma replied. The jounin quickly pointed to the man behind her and muttered, "No way."

Trailing close behind the medic was a very familiar gray haired old man in glasses.

"Fukurou?!" Ino shrieked, startling all assembled.

Taking a breath, the old man faced Team 10.

"Yes, that would be me. Some of my people want to have a word with you. I however have no such desire, so miss Haruno has kindly volunteered to escort me to the hospital as medical jutsu is somewhat of a hobby of mine." Fukurou finished with a smile.

"Do you have any idea what they would want to talk about?" Shikamaru asked.

To that the gray-haired man shrugged.

"All I know is that it has something to do with the Nara clan. You'll just have to talk to them to find out. I'll catch you later."

As the pair passed the group, Sakura met Ino's eyes. "See you later, Ino-pig."

"Bye, forehead-girl." The blond shot back with a large grin.

As Ino watched the two walk away, she couldn't help but think about how far the two had gone together. She was shaken from her thoughts by her lazy teammate's voice.

"You coming Ino?"

The blond quickly shook her head and ran up the stairs to catch up with the group. In a moment, Team 10 was finally in front of the Hokage's door. Breathing out a sigh, Asuma slowly turned the knob and pushed open the door. Inside there was a little more then what they expected.

Assembled were 6 people, not including Lady Tsunade. Besides all wearing long, completely black robes, there didn't seem to be a common feature between all of them.

Sitting closest to the door was what could only be described as a gargantuan man. Very wide shoulders covering a good percentage of the wall, a pure black bandana covering most of his head, and his bent legs jutting out a good distance from his seat. Looking at this big figure, Choji couldn't help but think that if he were to stand, his head would most likely go through the ceiling.

Sitting across from the giant was an average sized, but still small beside him, woman with a forehead protector bandana with the sign of a crescent moon on it covering the top of her head and strands of light blue hair coming down from underneath to frame her face. Her skin, though human-toned, had a hint of paleness to it.

Sitting in the chair next to the woman was a tall man with dark brown hair pointed backward and a forehead protector with the same symbol as the female beside him. Leaning against his crossed legs was a white-handled sword in a pitch-black sheath.

Sitting a couple chairs down from the big guy was a short haired man with a small grouping of his black hair dropping down to cover his right eye.

The only thing the group could see of the next person was that, instead of the high collars that the rest had, this figure had a large hood covering their features.

_Too mysterious _thought Ino, that idea causing her to shiver slightly.

The last member had his back to Team Asuma and was looking out the window, the white hair reaching his back softy shifting with the tiny breeze flowing into the room.

"Konohagakure is really a beauty to look at. A much more extensive sight then back home." The man said in an even tone while he slowly turned to face them. This man had almost pearl white skin and his face, including his opal eyes, showed no emotion at all. "Team Asuma, allow me to introduce myself. I am Tsuki Nomo, leader of Kagegakure. And you," he said, his index finger peaking out from underneath his extra long sleeve to point at Shikamaru, "are just the person I wish to speak to."

AN: Alright, second chapter up and I am fairly pleased with it so far. I really have nothing else to say, so I hope you're enjoying it and please review.


	3. Shadow of the Leaf

Shadow of the Leaf

"Why would you want to talk to me?" asked Shikamaru, pointing to himself.

"That, we will get to in a moment." replied Tsuki as he tucked a strand of pure white hair behind his ear. "However, proper manners dictate that introductions come first. This man," he said, gesturing to the black haired man sitting closest to the white-haired leader, "you may call Tate Jun."

To that, Tate bowed slightly to the assembled leaf ninja.

"The man next to Tate is known as Yama Chikyuu."

The giant nodded to Team Asuma.

"The lady sitting there," Tsuki indicated the blue-haired woman, "is named Onna Taiyou."

After being introduced, Onna lightly bowed her head to the Konoha nin before her.

"Next to her is our weapons master, Bushi Ookami."

At that, the brown-haired man inclined his head.

"And last, but not least, we have Konton Ichi." Tsuki finished by pointing to the hooded figure, which did not respond to the name. "Now, please, have a seat so we may start this meeting."

It was then that the leaf shinobi noticed for the first time that there were 4 chairs seated right in front of the Hokage's desk where Lady Tsunade was resting her chin on her interlocked fingers. After closing the door behind them, Team Asuma slowly took their seats. Shikamaru spoke up.

"Lady Hokage, do you have any idea what this is about?"

"All I know is that these men, and lady," she said nodding toward Onna, "want to speak to a Nara."

"Then why not let them talk to my father?"

"Because your father is currently on a mission. Now, if there are no more questions, Mr. Nomo?"

To that, the white-haired man nodded and took a seat on the edge of Tsunade's desk. Fixing the shadow-manipulator with a stare, Tsuki began.

"Mr. Nara, I will start with a simple question. What do you know of your family history?"

To that, Shikamaru raised his eyebrows. It was something he didn't normally think about.

"Well, why?"

Meeting the Nara's gaze, the white-haired shadow ninja sighed.

"I do not like to play games, Mr. Nara, so I will go on without your input for now. Only 3 generations of Naras have been born in Konohagakure. It started with your great grandfather. He was not originally from this area but he did end up here. Shimo Nara was native to a village just 1 day north of this place." Tsuki paused here to let that sink in. He imagined he could actually see the gears turning in the young Nara's head. "I have thought long and hard on how to ease this on you, but nothing is better then coming right out and speaking the truth. Shimo Nara, your great grandfather, was born in Kagegakure."

Hearing that, the eyes of every leaf shinobi widened greatly. Lady Tsunade, however, was not frozen.

"How exactly would you know this?"

Tsuki let out a breath.

"I have done much research recently. And about him living in the Hidden Shadow village, I was there. It was early in the third great ninja war when he defected. Shimo was always too impulsive and difficult to keep under control, and when our elders, along with most of the village, refused to become part of the war he decided to go somewhere where he could take part in it. The closest village in the conflict was of course, Konohagakure. At the time, I was entrusted with his training and guidance."

"Normally," spoke up Asuma, "a matter of defection 20 years old wouldn't constitute you traveling all the way here. Shimo is long dead by now, which you could probably guess, so you must have some other reason for being here."

"And you couldn't possibly be that old, could you? You can't be more than 25 years old." commented Ino.

"Believe it or not, I'm a lot older than I appear." the white-haired man replied.

"What, like 40, 45?" Tsunade said, having some experience with appearance changing jutsus.

"Try 76."

At that, Team 10 all gasped and Tsunade began choking on air.

"Impossible!"

"Call it a gift." replied Tsuki, "Now if we can get back to the matter at hand. It is rather astute of you, Mr. Sarutobi, with the ulterior motive guess. We are here to right a wrong that was done 23 years ago."

"Which would be?" asked the blond Hokage.

The white-haired leader paused for a minute to meet Yama's eyes. As the giant man nodded, Tsuki turned back to face Team Asuma.

"When Shimo Nara fled our village, he took a secret scroll with a certain special jutsu on it, a shadow jutsu that was one of the hardest to create at the time. Now, I'm guessing from the information that flutters through our village from time to time that he took the jutsu and told all whom he met that he had created it. A jutsu the current generation of the Nara clan holds very dear to their hearts, the very jutsu that rocketed the name Nara to one of the highest steps on the social ladder. Anyone care to guess?"

After a moment of thought, something struck Shikamaru and he put a hand to his forehead and sighed.

"The Shadow Possession jutsu."

"Got it in one." replied Yama in a deep tone.

"So, let's say for argument sake that we believe what you are telling us. How exactly do you plan on solving this?"

"Well," said Tsuki, who was standing now, "I just so happen to have a solution for that."

Hearing that, Tate Jun reached inside his cloak and pulled out a blue scroll.

AN: Yes, the Nara Clan's most popular jutsu was stolen from another village. What is Tsuki Nomo's great solution? What will this mean for the future of the Naras? All will be answered in future chapters.

Oh, and I would like to take this opportunity to say that if anybody out there has any shadow jutsus in your mind, I will only take ideas until the end of the next chapter to prepare. Thank you and please review.


	4. The Black Encounter

Sorry about the delay to all who are actually reading this story. An unfortunate combination of classes and writer's block has stood in my way, but I'm back now and plan to continue this fic quite swiftly.

Once again, I do not own Naruto or any of the characters therein. I only own the new characters from Kagegakure, and I am also getting no payment for this. There, you can't sue me now. Enjoy.

The Black Encounter

"What's with the scroll?" asked Shikamaru with slight apprehension.

Tsuki turned his eyes to the young Nara, and after a second spoke.

"I guess you deserve to be informed of your fate. This scroll is a recent discovery of our village, one that we are hesitant to share with other villages like you. The four seals in the center act like a cage that can keep chakra of a certain nature contained inside. In common speak, it takes jutsu."

After the explanation, every Leaf shinobi in the room took on a confused look. It was Lady Tsunade, however, that spoke up.

"Now, I may not be the most knowledgeable person, seal-wise, but I'm pretty sure a seal cannot take a jutsu from someone. At least, that's what I was taught."

Hearing this, the white-haired leader grinned. "Of course you believe that. And by the way, it's more a matter of what you **weren't **taught than what you were. This seal is unique to Kagegakure, so it's no surprise that someone from The Leaf wouldn't have heard of it. You are only taught what your instructor knows, am I right? Besides, as a student, you wouldn't have been able to handle it."

At this point, Tsunade nearly growled out, "I'll have you know that it is common knowledge that as a child, I had better chakra control that quite a few Jounin level shinobi at that time."

Tsuki turned to the 5th Hokage and leaned in close.

"I'll have you know that this particular seal is not about control. Well, for any seal you have to have some chakra control, but this one takes more chakra than most almost any other seal out there. In fact, in the testing phase, it killed 3 people who were testing it. You must have massive reserves, in addition to near perfect control. I know you won't tell me that you had that kind of supply at that age?" At that, Tsunade stayed quiet. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

For the first time since they had arrived, Ino spoke up. "Lord Nomo, how do you intend to use it if it takes such reserves, if you don't mind me asking?"

Calmly, Tsuki turned to the blond. "We have our ways, you can believe that."

It was at this point that Shikamaru interjected, "Excuse me, but the matter of its use still has to be settled. Lady Hokage, you can't allow them to just waltz in and demand my family's jutsu, can you."

Tsunade let out a heavy sigh. "Sorry Mr. Nomo, but he's right. You can't just come into the Village, start demanding that your jutsu was stolen and expect everyone to side with you. If you had come with the original scroll containing the jutsu, then this would be a different matter, but its not. I'm sorry, but I have to deny you your request."

Hearing this, the white-haired man silently rolled up the scroll and looked up toward the blond leader. "Is that your final word on the matter?"

"It is." She replied.

Nodding, Tsuki turned and handed the scroll back to Tate, then looked to the young Nara. "Your ancestor hid his deed well, I am just sorry that he had to choose to come to such a nice village." There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

Narrowing his eyes, Asuma Sarutobi directed his concern to the white haired, shadow leader. "What is that supposed to mean?"

At that, Tsuki slowly turned his gaze to meet the Jounin's with a grim smile on his face. "Merely that the wrongs of this world cannot go un-righted forever. Justice is coming to all, no matter who must pay for another's crime." Finishing that thought, the Kagegakure leader turned back to Tsunade. "Know if it is the only thing you take from this encounter, that this is not even close to over." With that, Tsuki gestured to the gathered black robes, which all stood and silently began filing out the door. Yama had to duck low to avoid the top of the door. Without another word, the white-haired warrior followed.

When the door was finally closed, the blond woman behind the desk let out a low breath. Walking up to the desk, Shikamaru leaned on it and narrowed his gaze to match the Hokage's. "What do you think he meant by that?"

Rubbing her temples, Tsunade looked toward the shadow user. "I have a hunch, but for now, I want you four to go home and get some rest. I'll handle things."

After Squad 10 had reluctantly left Hokage Tower, Tsunade called to the assistant. "Shizune, I want this village locked down, nothing in after sunset. The next couple of days are going to be very interesting."

AN: Well, there it is. Sounds like Konohagakure is in for something big involving the Shadow Village. I can hardly stand the wait.

As always, please review and let me know what you think. Oh, and I just remembered, if anyone has an idea for a good Shadow Jutsu, I'm accepting them, and this is probably your last chance. Thanks for reading.


	5. Clad in Shadow

Sorry for the delay, anybody who is still reading this, I've been quite busy and preoccupied. Now, however, I've gotten the creative juices flowing recently so I am going to be flowing on this story and hopefully reach the end of it pretty soon. Thanks for the past reviews, they have certainly helped.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any character or theme therein. If I did, the series would be going in a different direction. I make no profit from this fiction, it is merely for fun. I do however own the Village Hidden in the Shadows, which is pretty cool. That being said, on with the show!

Into the Shadows

Chapter 5: Clad in Shadow

Konohagakure, more commonly known as the Village Hidden in the Leaves, was a beautiful place to live, its tranquility bursting from sun-up to sun-down. It was so peaceful that the citizens hadn't truly been afraid to live there in years. That very fact was entirely because of the peace between the 5 great nations, what little peace there was at least. Now, however, the tranquility was about to be destroyed. And it was that situation that had the 5th Hokage, leader of the village sitting atop the Hokage building looking over the very village she watched over. That was where Shizune, her apprentice and assistant, found her while the sun was just laying down to rest in the western sky.

"Lady Tsunade," Shizune said softly to the woman's back, "the village gates have been closed up and the guards are on full alert, just as you requested."

Without turning to face her apprentice, the blond replied, "Thank you, Shizune."

The dark-haired medic nin silently walked up beside Tsunade and looked out over the village. "Do you really think they'll attack us?"

At that, the Hokage grinned. "In my professional opinion, they will try. And that is enough to warrant some caution. We know absolutely nothing about this Kagegakure, so they very well may be a very big threat." In response to this, Shizune turned and started walking back inside the Hokage's Building, never hearing the Godaime whisper the end of her thought. "For our sake, I hope they're not."

Just outside the giant walls that surrounded Konohagakure, a small group of shinobi in black cloaks gathered together.

The second-tallest of the group, a man with flowing, shock-white hair and a hitai-ate with the symbol of a crescent moon around his neck, stared silently up at the boundary before him. Quietly, a woman with light blue hair mostly covered by a bandana with the same symbol on the front approached the man from behind.

"Is this really wise?" asked Onna Taiyou. "It seems to me that we are sort of short on forces to be going up against an entire Hidden Village, especially one as powerful as Konoha. Are you sure this is what you think we should do?"

The white-haired leader was silent for a minute, before he turned to face the kunoichi. "Do you truly doubt my plans? Is my word not enough?"

"Of course not, my lord." The woman quickly returned, "I am merely calculating our odds, which you probably know are not that good. I am only saying that we may want to step back and think this through. Six against an entire shinobi force sounds kind of suicidal."

To that, Tsuki Nomo looked over to the other four members of the group. "Yama!" he called to the largest of their group, a man at least 2 heads taller than the leader. "Could you join us here for a minute?"

The giant of a man lumbered over to the 2 shinobi, taking his stance right behind Onna. "What do you require of me, my lord?"

"Yama, do you doubt our cause? Do you agree with Onna here that it is not worth facing down an entire Hidden Village for?" the white-haired man asked of his subordinate.

"No, my lord, I would never insinuate such a thing." came the deep voice of Yama Chikyuu.

Hearing that, Tsuki turned with a smirk on his face to stare at the giant wall again. "You see, Onna, you could learn a thing from Yama about loyalty." After saying this, the Kagegakure leader called to the rest of his force, "Tate! Konton! Bushi!"

Hearing this call, the rest of the group assembled around their white-haired leader.

Tsuki took a deep breath and looked to the shy before speaking, "There is an old quote that has stuck with me. 'Man is a substance, clad in shadow.' We are that shadow. Today, the forces of this world will know of us. Too long, we have sat in our village, allowing the world to go by without affecting it. Well, I say no more! Today, we will make our mark on history and right a wrong long done to us. It is time!" Saying this, the man made a few quick hand signs and thrust his palm to toward the sky. "Shadow Release: Ultimate Eclipse Jutsu!"

With a burst of chakra, the last lights of the sinking sun were wiped from the sky as blackness overtook the area.

Seeing this, the leader let a wide smile cover his face. "Konoha, come and meet the darkness you once feared!" With a few more hand signs, the group of six were covered from head-to-toe in darkness as they disappeared from the clearing.


End file.
